The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and more particularly to computer systems employing wireless technology.
Personal computer systems in general and Intel/Microsoft compatible personal computer systems in particular have attained widespread acceptance. These personal computer systems now provide computing power to many segments of today""s modern society. A personal computer system can usually be defined as a desktop, floor-standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a system processor with associated volatile and non-volatile memory, a display, a keyboard, and one or more mass storage devices such as a floppy diskette drive, a CD-ROM or DVD drive, for example. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is that they generally use a system board or motherboard to electrically connect many of these components together. Personal computer systems are information handling systems which are designed primarily to provide independent computing power to a single user, (or a relatively small group of users in the case of personal computers which serve as server systems.) Today, notebook, sub-notebook and personal digital assistant (PDA) devices have joined and become a part of personal computer systems on the smaller end of the size spectrum.
As wireless technology proliferates it is becoming increasingly important to equip computer systems with efficient antennas. Outboard antennas are generally not desirable because they can be easily broken. Alternatively, an antenna can be placed in the display of computer systems wherein the display is pivotally attached to the base. However, that approach has the disadvantage of a long coaxial cable length needed between the base and the antenna in the display. Another drawback of that approach is the continuous flexure of the coaxial cable at the pivot point between the base and the display. This can lead to premature failure.
Therefore, what is needed is a computer system with an internal antenna which consumes a low amount of space in the computer interior without long cable runs. However, mounting an antenna on the interior of a portable computer is challenging because the antenna must compete for already very limited space. Moreover, the internal antenna should be located in a manner which does not unduly distort the antenna""s radiation pattern. Another challenge to be overcome is to position the internal antenna in a manner avoiding radio frequency (RF) noise problems.
Accordingly, one embodiment of the disclosed computer system includes a base having an input device and a processor situated therein. The computer system also includes a memory coupled to the processor to facilitate execution of computer programs by the processor. A display is mounted to the base. A first speaker-antenna assembly is situated in the base. In another embodiment, a second speaker-antenna assembly is situated in the base in spaced-apart relationship with respect to the first speaker-antenna assembly.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that by integrating an antenna and a speaker in an antenna-speaker assembly inside the computer system, a very low amount of valuable interior computer real estate or space is consumed.